Furniture employing arm rests movable horizontally into a back member



Dec. 30, 1958 H. P. GLASS 2,866,496

FURNITURE EMPLOYING ARM RESTS MOVABLE HORIZONTALLY INTO A BACK MEMBER Filed March 50, 1956 FIG. I

FIG. 3.

Eli @7114 INVENTOR. 4 HENRY P. GLASS L' AGENT United Sims atent FURNITURE EMPLOYING ARM RESTS MOVABLE HORIZONTALLY INTO A BACK MEMBER Henry P. Glass, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Mutual Furni- 2111i; Associates, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of ois Application March so, 1956, Serial No. 575,072

2 Claims. (Cl. 155-112) This invention relates to furniture and more particularly to furniture which may be changed from one form to another to serve a plurality of purposes.

Present day room arrangements of furniture are not only creating the need for modern styling but also the need for furniture having simplified design, functional, use, and multiple purpose. The trend of decorators and designers in room arrangements is to emphasize casual living. Modern furniture styles must reflect this trend as well as graceful simplicity and functionalism. In our modern residences the living rooms are intended to satisfy the daily needs of all members of a family, rather than to fulfill the former purposes of a parlor, salon or drawing room. Definite planning is made for such activities as social intercourse, writing, studying, reading, working, music, resting, playing, watching television, etc. Therefore, the furniture used must serve these multiple purposes as well as add to the graceful, casual atmosphere desired.

Heretofore, furniture was designed for a single use or purpose and when used for other purposes appeared awkward and out of place. Further, this prior art furniture was not readily convertible from one form to another for use in a variety of coordinated groups.

In accordance with the invention claimed new and improved furniture structures are provided each comprising a horizontally extending seat and a back member fastened to the seat. The back member defines a horizontally extending groove for receiving a horizontally extending arm member which is pivotally mounted on the structure for movement horizontally over the seat and into the groove.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a new and improved piece of furniture.

Another object of this invention is to provide new and improved furniture structures which may be changed from one form to another to serve a plurality of purposes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved piece of furniture in which an arm rest may be placed in the usual arm extended position or rotated about a vertically extending axis to structurally change the geometrical appearance 'of this piece of furniture.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved sofa on which a horizontally extending arm member may be rotated horizontally over the seat and within the outline of the back member.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved furniture unit which may be used in a variety of coordinated furniture groups using a right arm rest, left arm rest, two arm rests or armless, without adding to or taking off of the unit any of its component parts.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view partly in elevation of the piece of furniture shown in Fig. 1 taken along the line 22; and I Fig. 3 is a perspective. view of a modification of the piece of furnitureillustrated in Fig. 1 and embodying the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing by characters of reference, Fig. 1 illustrates a unit or piece of furniture comprising a seat 4, a back member 5 and a pair of arm members or rests 6 and 7. Back member 5 is arranged to provide a pair of horizontally extending grooves 8 and 9 separated by a partition 10. Back member 5 may comprise that portion of the unit or piece of furniture extending above seat 4 or it may be considered as comprising the entire back portion of the unit which extends to the bottom of seat 4. Seat 4 iselevated above the floor by a plurality of legs 11 usually mounted one at each corner of the bottom of the seat structure. A plurality of cushions 12 may be arranged on top of seat 4 as shown in Fig. l.

The back member 5 is provided with a pair of ver-. tically extending axes or shafts 13 oneat each end of seat 4 and uponwhich are pivotally mounted the arm rests 6 and 7. As shown in Fig. 2 shafts 13 are mounted within back member 5 or within seat 4 and back member 5 and are arranged to extend within the slots or grooves 8 and 9 extending within or between seat 4 and back member 5. Shafts 13 may be positioned within an aperture formed in an angle member 14 extending horizontally along the longitudinal back edge of seat 4 and within a bore formed in a horizontally arranged member 15 extending longitudinally along back member 5. Arm rests 6 and 7 are pivotally mounted on shafts 13 so as to move horizontally over seat 4 when actuated. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, arms 6 and 7 may be actuated from their arm rest position wherein the arms are positioned over seat 4 substantially perpendicular to back member 5 to their arm concealed position wherein the arms are within their respective grooves 8 and 9 and within the outline of back member 5. Arms 6 and 7 are so arranged that the unitary furniture structure may be readily used with one arm rest, both arm rests or without any arm rests. When the arm rests 6 and 7 are both in their respective grooves 8 and 9 the sofa structure appears to be grooveless, that is, the arm rests 6 and 7 and the partition 10 fill out the back of the sofa to provide a substantially unbroken surface.

In the sofa illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the back member 5 is spaced a predetermined distance above seat 4 so that seat 4 and back member 5 define slots or grooves 8 and 9 of a predetermined size. Grooves 8 and 9, however, may be formed entirely in back member 5. It is intended that the claims of this application cover structures having horizontally arranged grooves or slots for receiving the horizontally movable arm rests regardless of what parts of the structures define the grooves or slots. Partition 10 may be the means for fastening back member 5 to seat 4 to form a unitary device, or back member 5 may be supported by shafts 13 and partition 10. Further, shafts 13 may be the only means of supporting back member 5, if so desired.

Fig. 3 illustrates a modification of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 wherein the sofa shown comprises a horizontally arranged seat 16 employing a plurality of cushions 17, a back member 18, a pair of relatively fixed arm rests 19 and 20, and a plurality of legs 21 one arranged at each corner of the structure. A groove 22 is provided between seat 16 and back member 18 so that a horizontally arranged pivotally mounted arm member or rest 23 may be actuated either clockwise or counterclockwise (when looking at member 23 from the top) into groove 22. Arm member or rest 23 is pivotally mounted on a vertically extending shaft or axis of the type shown in Fig. 2' and is arranged to extend overseat 16in a direction substantially perpendicular to back mem- 7 her 18 at a point betweenthe ends of seat 16. When member 13in in its arm extended position it-may-serve as an arm rest or table surface and when actuated either clockwise or counterclockwise into slot or groove 22 lies within the outline ofback 18.

The new and improved horizontally actuated arm rests disclosed and claimed maybe used on many different types of furniture. This type of arm rest converts sofas and chairs into unitary structures which may be used in a variety of coordinated groups of furniture to provide many new types of furniture settings. Further, by utilizing furniture having arm rests of this type a dist'ributor can rely on one type of furniture to fulfill substantially all his needs for unitary structures having one arm rest, two arm rests, or no arm rests. This is an important feature in furniture merchandizing.

Although but twoembodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparem to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

his claimedand desired to protect by. Letters Patent:

l. A piece of furniture convertible from one form into another form comprising a horizantally extending seat, a back member spaced a predetermined distance above said seat to define a slot for receiving an arm rest, a vertically extending shaft arranged between said seat and said back member for fastening said seat and back member together, and a horizontally extending arm rest pivotally mounted on said shaft for movement horizontally over said seat and into said slot.

2. A sofa convertible from one form into another form comprising a horizontally extending seat, a back member spaced at predetermined distance above said seat to define a slot on each end of said sofa for receiving an arm rest, means comprising a pair of vertically extending shafts one" arranged on each end of said sofa within one said slot between said seat and said back member for forming said, seat and said back member into a unitary device, and a pair of horizontally extending arm rests each pivotally mounted on a different one of said shafts for movement horizontally over said seat and into one said slot, said arm rests when moved into said slot lying within the outline of said back member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Netzer; June 23, 1953 Glass Aug. 18, 1953 Hayek Mar. 2, 1869 De Long May 6, 1919 Smith .Jan. 11, 1938 Brack Ian. 1, 1952 

